“Loyalty is With Me”

Great Britain experienced the outbreak of several wars in the 18th century, which would seem to directly contradict the teachings of the Church, regardless of denomination. Given that the King had total authority over the Anglican Church, it is unsurprising that the Anglican Church fully supported the King’s call to action in each of these wars. However, the question arises: how did the Methodist Church respond to violence and action in war? John Wesley is definitive on the subject, stating, “Loyalty is with me an essential branch of religion, and which I am sorry any Methodist should forget. There is the closest connection, therefore, between my religious and political conduct; the selfsame authority enjoining me to fear God and honor the King.” Men belonging to the Methodist Church believed in loyalty to their nation and served their respective country’s military. This service extended to those serving in the American Civil War.

The General Rules adopted by American Methodism in 1789 stated that Methodists must not partake in the institution of slavery, believing that every enslaved individual possesses a soul. However, as Methodism expanded across the United States and more people attended camp meetings, this rule was relaxed. At the 1844 General Conference, anti-slavery factions and pro-slavery factions erupted in disagreement over the expulsion of a bishop who came into the possession of enslaved people through marriage. The Methodist Episcopal Church suspended the Bishop. Pro-slavery factions established a new branch of the Methodist Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This division took place around the same time pro-slavery and anti-slavery arguments broke out in the United States government. When Abraham Lincoln was elected on an anti-slavery ticket, the southern states seceded and fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Many within the Methodist Church took up Lincoln’s call to action. Colonel Clinton B. Fisk received an appointment to the rank of General. He served in Missouri, fighting Confederate guerillas throughout most of the war. General Fisk received this appointment with the help of Bishop Mathew Simpson of the Drew Theological School. Bishop Simpson would go on to help many others secure appointments in the Union armies. He questioned the Confederacy and asked its leadership and soldiers to revert to prayer for answers. Edwin Raymond Ames took a similar voice. He was a Methodist Minister and was known for his work with Native Americans in the West before the outbreak of the war. When the war began, Ames signed up as an army chaplain in the United States Army. He was a vocal opponent of slavery and was given permission by Edwin Stanton to commandeer houses of worship in the South and replace Southern ministers with ones who were anti-slavery and supported the United States government.

The Methodist Episcopal Church remained intensely loyal to the United States government. Many Southern preachers retained Northern sympathies. At the 1864 General Conference, the members wrote a letter of support to Abraham Lincoln and pledged their support for the current government. They criticized the Confederate government and said their people and armies committed treason and a sin against God. Lincoln was appreciative of this letter. Many of the members signed up during one of the most sanguine campaigns of the war in May of 1864, indicating their intense loyalty and belief in their country.

Bibliography

“Division in America and Expansion Overseas (1844-1860).” United Methodist Church. 2025. https://www.umc.org/en/content/division-in-america-and-expansion-overseas-1844-1860.

“Influences of Methodists on U.S. Government.” Drew University Library of Special Collections. 2025. https://omeka.drew.edu/exhibits/show/civil-war/influences.

Rogal, Samuel J. "John Wesley on War and Peace." Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 7, no. 1 (1978): 329-344.